Marble shooter



y 1965 J. o. THOMPSON I 3,183,903

MARBLE SHOOTER Filed May 16, 1963 Fig. 7 F g John 0. Thomp IN VENTOR.

United States Patent 3,183,903 MARBLE SHOOTER John 0. Thompson, Box 133,Osage, Wyo. Filed May 16, 1963, Ser. No. 280,863 6 Claims. (Cl. 124-10)The present invention is generally concerned with toys, and moreparticularly relates to a novel marble shooting or propelling device.

Basically, it is an object of the instant invention to provide a marbleshooter which can be conveniently manipulated so as to receive a singlemarble, and effect a forced projection of the marble.

In conjunction with the above object, it is also an object of theinstant invention to provide a device which can be utilized when playingconventional marble games.

Likewise, it is an object of the instant invention to provide a devicewhich can be easil manipulated by a child.

Further, it is an object of the instant invention to pro vide a marbleshooting or projecting device wherein a substantial degree of accuracyis provided.

The above objects are achieved by the provision of a marble shooterwhich basically consists of a pair of elongated superimposed membershaving facing surfaces, each surface including a raised central portionfor fulcrum engagement with each other. A resilient or elastic band isengaged about the members toward one side of the raised central portionsso as to bias the members in opposite directions about the fulcrum andthereby maintain one pair of corresponding ends of the members adjacenteach other while the other pair of ends diverge outwardly from thefulcrum forming raised center portions. The facing surfaces of theadjacent ends include longitudinally extending relatively shallowcentral loading grooves of a'size so as to receive the periphery of amarble and guide the marble therein. The inner surfaces of the divergingends of the members are provided with substantially deeper centrallylocated longitudinally extending guide grooves which terminate beyondthe fulcrum forming raised central portions in an arcuate shoulderforming seat. This seat receives the marble inserted through the openednormally adjacent ends with the marble being projectedforcibly outwardalong the guide grooves by a compressing of the opened normally adjacentends so as to fulcrum the members about the marble and open the normallydivergent ends, this fulcruming movement of the members, in conjunctionwith the compressive force exerted by the elastic band, effecting theprojection.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more full hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the marble shooter comprising theinstant invention;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective View of the various elements of theshooter;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view of the resilient or elastic band;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially upon the planepassing along line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on a planepassing along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 are cross-sectional views taken along thecorresponding section lines in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 9 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view through the marbleshooter; and

FIGURES 10, 11 and 12 illustrate the various steps in loading and firingthe marble shooter.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, reference numeral 20 isused to generally designate the device comprising the instant invention.This device 20 basically includes a pair of enlongated normallysuperimposed members 22 and a resilient or elastic band 24 resilientlyclamping the members 22 together.

Each of the elongated members 22, which incidentally may be formed ofany suitable rigid material such as wood, plastic or metal, includes aflat outer surface 26 and an angular inner or facing surface 28. Thefacing surface 28 of each of the members 22 increases smoothly in heightfrom the outer ends thereof to a raised central portion 30 forming, asshall be presently apparent, a centrally located fulcruming point.

The resilient band 24 is engaged about the members 22 to one side of thesuperimposed raised central portions 30, this side being hereindesignated as the loading side or end. Incidentally, it will be notedthat the outer surface 26 of each of the members 22 is provided with atransversely extending retaining groove 32 for retaining the resilientband 24 in its proper location relative to the members 22, and at thesame time acting so as to also retain the proper relationship betweenthe members 22.

As will be appreciated, the band 24, in this position,

biases the loading end of the members 22 in opposite directions aboutthe fulcrurning points 30 so as to orientate these loading ends adjacenteach other while the opposite sides or ends, which will be hereindesignated as the projecting ends, are orientated outwardly in divergentrelationship to each other.

Each of the members 22 includes, in the facing surface 28 thereof, acentrally located relatively deep guiding groove 34 extendinglongitudinally in from the extreme end thereof to a shoulder formingarcuate seat 36 located beyond the raised central portion 30 and in thegeneral vicinity of the band 24. In addition, each of the members 22includes a longitudinally extending loading groove 38 centrally alongthe loading end thereof, this loading groove 38 being shallow ascompared to the cor-responding guide groove, and communicated with thisgroove withwhich it is longitudinally aligned. Incidentally, it will ofcourse be appreciated that both the guide channels and the loadingchannels are formed so \as to generally conform to the periphery of themarble, portions of which will be received within the correspondingchannels in the use of the device as shall be explained presently.Further, it will be noted that the fulcrum forming raised centrallylocated port-ions 30 in fact consist of, in regard to each member 22, apair of raised portions defined by the central guide groove 34.

Finally, each of the members 22 is provided, in the outer surface 26thereof, with a longitudinally extending centrally located sightinggroove 40 for use in an obvious manner for aiming the shooter 20.

Referring now specifically to FIGURES 9-12, the use of the device willbe explained. Initially, the loading ends of the members 22 aremaintained adjacent or in contact with each other with the projecting orshooting ends in diverging relation to each other. The loading .ends areseparated from each other, as for example by compressing the projectingends toward each other, land a marble is loaded therein utilizing theloading grooves 38. With reference to FIGURE 11, it will be noted thatthe marble is forced into seating engagement with the shoulders 36,thereby resiliently biasing apart the centrally located fulcrumingpoints 30. With regard to this specific position, it will be noted thatthe resilient band 24 is located slightly forward of the verticaldiametric plane of the marble so as to maintain the convergingrelationship of the normally divergent projecting ends when the marbleitself is used as a fulcruming means, thereby maintaining the marbleagainst the seat forming shoulders 36. The final step involves thecompressing of the loading ends toward each other, thereby pivoting themembers 22 about the marble so as to spread the projecting ends andproject the marble therefrom by means of the diverging guide grooves 34and the compressive force exerted by the resilient band 24 as it movesbeyond the central vertical plane of the marble.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principl-esflofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A marble shooter comprising a pair of elongated superimposed membershaving fulcrum forming means adjacent the center thereof, resilientmeans biasing said mem bers in opposite directions about said fulcrumforming means for retaining one end of one member adjacent an end of theother member with the other ends spaced apart,

' marble guide means on at least one of said members for guidingmovement of a marble longitudinally betweenthe members, said marbleguide means including a shoulder marble in one direction, said shoulderbeing disposed between the center of the member and the ends of saidmembers normally retained in adjacent relation and facing the center ofsaid members, whereby insertion of a marble between the adjacent ends ofsaid members will pivot the adjacent ends apart, said shoulder receivingthe marble and retaining it in place thereby retaining the normallyadjacent ends of the members in spaced apart relation whereby subsequentmovement of the normally adjacent ends'of the-members will causefulcruming thereof about the marble until thesurfaces of the membersdiverge from the shoulder'and marble to the other ends thereof forejecting the marble therefrom;

2.. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said fulcrum formingmeans also includes raised side edges on each of said members with theraised side edges engaging members to move apart.

p for engaging a marble and preventing movement of-the each other andforming afulcrum axis but enabling the 45 3. The structure as defined inclaim 2 wherein said resilient'means includes a resilient bandencircling said members adjacent the raised portions but between theraised portions and the normally adjacent ends for retaining thenormally adjacent endsnormally adjacent each other and enabling theraised portions forming the fulcrum axis to move apart to enable passageof a marble therebetween.

4. The structure as defined "in claim 3 wherein said marble guide meansalso includes a channel in each of the end members generally ofcross-sectional configuration to receive a portion of the periphery ofthe marble, the channel from the shoulder to the normally spaced apartends of said members being deeper thanthe channel from the shoulder tothe normally adjacent ends thus forming the shoulder at the juncturebetween-the channels.

5. The structure as defined in claim 4 wherein the outer surface of eachlongitudinal member is provided with a longitudinal guide line thereonfor use in aiming the marble shooter.

6. A marble shooter comprising a pair of elongated members having facingsurfaces-provided with a raised central portion for fulcrum engagementwith each other and being disengageableifrom each other, a resilientmeans retaining the raised portions in fulcruming engagement with eachother but enabling them to be moved apart, a channel extendinglongitudinally on each face and extending from one endofthe members to apoint beyond the fulcrum with the channels being spaced apart a distanceless than the diameter of the marble'whereby a marble disposed in saidchannel at the inner end thereof will be projected therefrom when thechannel surfaces are orientated in diverging relationship to each otherwith marble holding the fulcrum points apart whereby the resiliency ofthe resilient'means will combine with the diverging surfaces of thechannels to vproject the marble.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,075,769 1/63Cunningham l2410 X FOREIGN PATENTS 539,611 9/411 Great Britain.

RlCHARD C. PINKHAM,'Primary Examiner.

1. A MARBLE SHOOTER COMPRISING A PAIR OF ELONGATED SUPERIMPOSED MEMBERSHAVING FULCRUM FORMING MEANS ADJACENT THE CENTER THEREOF, RESILIENTMEANS BIASING SAID MEMBERS IN OPPOSITE DIRECTON ABOUT SAID FULCRUMFORMING MEANS FOR RETAINING ONE END OF ONE MEMBER ADJACENT AN END OF THEOTHER MEMBER WITH THE OTHER ENDS SPACED APART, MARBLE GUIDE MEANS ON ATLEAST ONE OF SAID MEMBERS FOR GUIDING MOVEMENT OF A MARBLELONGIDUTINALLY BETWEEN THE MEMBERS, SAID MARBLE GUIDE MEANS INCLUDING ASHOULDER FOR ENGAGING A MARBLE AND PREVENTING MOVEMENT OF THE MARBLE INONE DIRECTION, SAID SHOULDER BEING DISPOSED BETWEEN THE CENTER OF THEMEMBER AND THE END OF SAID MEMBERS NORMALLY RETAINED IN ADJACENTRELATION AND FACING THE CENTER OF SAID MEMBERS, WHEREBY INSERTION OF AMARBLE BETWEEN THE ADJACENT ENDS OF SAID MEMBER WILL PIVOT THE ADJACENTENDS APART, SAID SHOULDER RECEIVING THE MARBLE AND RETAINING IT IN PLACETHEREBY RETAINING THE NORMALLY ADJACENT ENDS OF THE MEMBERS IN SPACEDAPARAT RELATION WHEREBY SUBSEQUENT MOVEMENT OF THE NORMALLY ADJACENTENDS OF THE MEMBERS WILL CAUSE FULCRUMING THEREOF ABOUT THE MARBLE UNTILTHE SURFACES OF THE MEMBERS DIVERGE FROM THE SHOULDER AND MARBLE TO THEOTHER ENDS THEREOF FOR EJECTING THE MARBLE THEREFROM.